21 January 1984
Okay, so ‘Ebony And Ivory’ didn’t work out so well. But here’s Paul McCartney with another attempt at his own ‘Imagine’-esque signature anthem. What’s more, it’s about peace, because it’s not just John who can write songs about peace, y’know!
For added effect, this was released in early December 1983 and the video recreates the famous Christmas Day truce from World War I, so it’s clearly aimed at securing the Christmas number one spot, and perhaps even becoming a festive anti-war favourite for the rest of time like a certain other Lennon song. Instead, it finally goes over the top in the chart no-man’s-land of January and we cope every Christmas without it.
The good news is that ‘Pipes Of Peace’ is not as insultingly bad as ‘Ebony And Ivory’. Oh, naturally it’s trite and schmaltzy: children’s choir, senior infants lyrics. But at least it’s not as saccharine-sounding; the horrible synths have been replaced by more muscular piano. Also, in a welcome glimmer of self-awareness McCartney includes himself as one of those who should “learn / Songs of joy instead of ‘burn baby burn'”. The sentiment is still rotten, though; “Burn Baby Burn” was a slogan associated with the 1965 Watts riots in response to—and you’ll be astonished to hear this—U.S. police brutality towards black citizens. But yeah, the people of Watts were the problem: if you say so, Paul!
I remember the video (below) being a big deal at the time, as McCartney plays two characters in opposing trenches and has ‘them’ meet amiably in the middle, swap pleasantries, realise they’re the same after all, and so forth. Never has a peace seemed more futile than a war.
